'We saved The Christians drummer's life in front of thousands'
Lewis Bridson, medical lead at MWR, told BBC Radio Merseyside he was in the vicinity of the stage when Duke fell ill, but did not immediately appreciate what was happening. "It looked to me personally that Lionel was doing some sort of sound check because he's quite far back at the stage drumming", he said.
"Garry himself went over to check what was going on and we saw the panic happening, and Garry literally screaming out for medics. "We knew that it was actually quite serious."Mr Bridson, who works as a trainee nurse in his day job, rushed into action. He said: "It's not my first rodeo, we'll say, but it was definitely my first rodeo in front of a live audience. "It was very difficult to get to Lionel, there was hundreds of people in front of us, barriers we had to climb over and we literally had to leap up the stage to get to him."
Mr Bridson began performing chest compressions and was joined by his colleague Steve Alcock, deputy operations manager at MWR. "There was lots of people involved all working for Lionel, but the crowd itself were very respectful," Mr Bridson said."No-one was shouting, and I don't think there was any videos of what was happening, which is really, really good. We kept his dignity in mind."Mr Alcock said the medical emergency highlighted the importance of learning CPR. "I think the more people who know how to do the basics of CPR, the better, he said. "It does save lives. Myself and Lewis have proven that this weekend in front of the best stage we can. It was literally on stage. "We've seen this gentleman who, if people hadn't have been there, would not have survived."
Listen to the best of BBC Radio Merseyside on BBC Sounds and follow BBC Merseyside on Facebook, X, and Instagram, and watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer.
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